(The original 1888 painting by Sargent is below)
I used some of the preliminary sketches by Sargent in order to better understand how the outfit went together.
She seems to be wearing Oxford style shoes and, actually, a relatively wide skirt (compared to how narrow it appears in the final painting -- whether that's the result of artistic license or just how it looked after being draped is unsure.) The little white tuft on Madame X's head seems to actually be the top part of a feather secured at the side, peeking into view. A ribbon is tied around her waist. The back of her bodice has a similar amount of dip as the front.
With a general understanding of how the outfit should look, I stuffed myself into my tightest corset and began my usual newspaper-and-masking-tape pattern.
Fabulous.
Since I had some suitable taffeta skirts left over from a previous costume, I decided to make the bodice in black taffeta as well. The straps I was able to make from a jeweled trim (found at Walmart of all places) sewn onto some buttons. I would have used larger buttons if I could have found some.
While the straps were sewn down on the back, they actually pinned into place at front. Why? Because I found you couldn't actually get your arms in and out of the bodice otherwise. I think Madame X's straps probably hooked into place at the front, but I didn't quite have time for constructing that, as I barely got the thing assembled in time for the holiday. So, I just used safety pins through the button loops, concealed under the fabric.
I was a bit disappointed that even after knocking myself out with that 18 inch corset (not literally! The rumors of women fainting are much exaggerated... but that's another post) I couldn't get quite the same figure as Mrs. Gautreau -- she apparently had bigger boobs and smaller ribs than me.
0 comments:
Post a Comment